Studio-grade headphones at an affordable price! The new Monitor 80 by OneOdio features open back earcups and folding earcups for easy storage. The Monitor 80 are based on its predecessor - the Monitor 60 - which is a closed back headphone with a similar style and robust plastic construction. 

The Monitor 80 headphones have an ultra wide headband (4 cm wide) and thick folding/swivel hinge joining the earcup yoke. The headband is padded all around (top and bottom) and covered with PU leather. The front sides of the earcups are open back and feature a black anodized metal grille mesh to let sound escape.The metal mesh is surrounded by a chrome plastic ring, as well as the OneOdio logo stamped in the centre of the grille.

At 299 grams, the Monitor 80 is 27 grams lighter in weight than the Monitor 60 and a bit more comfortable to wear on the head, thanks to the lower clamping force. The Monitor 80 headband integrates a metal reinforced plastic ratchet slider band, which provides an extra 3cm extension. The headband height adjustment is notched and secure.


The Monitor 80 earcups have a clean look with just two connectivity ports -  a 6.5mm audio port on the right earcup and a 3.5mm audio port on the left earcup, that's it. The audio ports aren't recessed though, which is always better for longevity. The Monitor 80 audio ports also do not feature twist locks for locking the plugs like you get with the Studio Hifi headphones. The Monitor 80 earcups can be rotated clockwise and anticlockwise (up to 90 degrees), tilted up and down (up to 45 degrees) and folded inward to reduce the footprint.

The Monitor 80 headphones have the classic circular donut style earpads with a 6cm inner hole diameter and 2cm depth to the driver. The 40mm drivers are covered with a thin layer of fabric with R and L markings printed in white to differentiate the right earcup from the left earcup. The earpads are made of soft springy foam covered with velour/velvet type fabric. The Monitor 80 earpads are replaceable and interchangeable with the OneOdio Monitor 60 and Pro 50 headphones.

In terms of comfort, the Monitor 80 velour earpads are more comfortable and breathable than the Monitor 60 PU leather pads. They don't heat up as quickly so, you can wear the Monitor 80 headphones for longer. That said, the Monitor 60 have better passive noise isolation so, they are better for minimizing sound leakage and weakening external sounds. Being open back, the Monitor 80 headphones do bleed a lot more audio but you get the added benefit of a wider sound stage and more natural sounding audio.


There are two 3 meter long audio cables included with the Monitor 80 - a coil cable wiith 6.5mm and 3.5mm connectors and a standard 3.5mm to 3.55mm audio cable, which weighs 53 grams. The coil cable can be extended between 1.5 meters and 3 meters long and weighs 72 grams. Both cables look and feel premium. They have a soft rubber sheath construction and rubbery plug connectors with OneOdio branding on them.


The Monitor 80 headphones come with a nicer carry case, which is a hard shell zip case; whereas the Monitor 60 comes with a PU leather drawstring pouch. The Monitor 80 carry case is really nice. You can confidently store and protect the headphones during transportation and the hard shell case looks really eye catchy too with a tall, oval shape reminiscent of an ostrich egg. The Monitor 80 carry case weighs 156 grams. There is a headphone stand also included, which can be easily disassembled. It's made of plastic and alloy metal and measures 26cm high. On top, there is a small cradle large enough to accommodate one headphone.


Both the Monitor 60 and Monitor 80 have similar design styling but the Monitor 80 is, most definitely, the better of the two and worth paying the extra. The Monitor 80 does have smaller dynamic drivers (40mm). And, while the Monitor 60 larger 50mm drivers are nice, the Monitor 80 has a higher level of audio tuning that enables the Monitor 80 drivers to perform a lot better despite their smaller diameter size. The low and higher tones are more powerful, detailed, vivid and punchy with the Monitor 80 headphones.


For general, all-around use the Monitor 60 headphones are a strong contender. If you plan to use them for gaming too, the Monitor 60 provide better game immersion acoustics, thanks to being closed back. Both the Monitor are high sensitive headphones (~105dB) with plenty of volume output but, the Monitor 80 are high impedance headphones (250 ohms), whereas the Monitor 60 headphones are low impedance (38 ohms).


The Monitor 60 can be run to full fidelity via a phone or computer without external amplification; whereas the Monitor 80 need an external amp to get the best out of them. The Monitor 80 can also be driven from a phone or computer though, and the sound is pretty good. The Monitor 80 has a wider sound stage signature than the Monitor 60 and, it's able to capture and reproduce sub bass frequencies too. Despite not being as good for gaming, the Monitor 80 headphones work well for certain games (e.g. fps games) where hearing audio cues is important.


The Monitor 80 headphones are traditional headphones with wired connectivity - they do not support wireless connectivity - like the Studio Wireless C headphones, which is both wired and wireless. The Monitor 80 is a solid purchase for the money. The headphones arrive inside a nice silver package hard cardboard box and a very unique snazzy-looking hard shell case with a quirky and expensive look to it. 

 

The hard shell case has a rubbery finish with OneOdio branding and a short strap on the backside to carry it around. The case outer shell material is waterproof but the zipper seam isn't as it is made of fabric, although it has reverse coil teeth which should provide some water resistance. 


The Monitor 80 carry case opens all the way around (clam-shell style) via a single metal slider with a rubber pull tab. Inside, there is open space and a large elasticated pocket for storing the cables. Other than that, it is a blank carry case, which is another nice feature about the Monitor 80 case. Most carry cases tend to have preformed cutouts for the headphones so, the case isn't as versatile. With the Monitor 80 carry case though, you can use it to store different headphones and, even use it as tech pouch for storing your electronic gadgets. You can buy the OneOdio Monitor 80 headphones from OneOdio and amazon whe they become available.